Cameron and Merkel put on united front

DAVID Cameron stood shoulder to shoulder with his German counterpart Angela Merkel and pledged that Britain would be a major player in Europe.

The Prime minister ruled out any giving over of sovereign powers to Europe, but insisted that he wanted a strong Eurozone.

The leaders had been in talks before holding a joint press conference in which they were quizzed on Germany’s ban on hedge funds and the plunging euro.

Cameron said the FSA would decide the extent of regulation on hedge funds in the UK but suggested they had not triggered the financial crisis.

“Are we dealing with the real cause or the symptoms. The cause is excessive debt … we have to get to the source of the problems. each country must have its own regulation in its own way”, the Prime Minister said.

But Chancellor Merkel insisted regulation should be pursued vigorously.